HSBC's 2015 profit slips to $13.5 B on fourth-quarter loss

HONG KONG – HSBC says profit last year dipped 1 percent to $13.5 billion after it unexpectedly posted a loss for the final quarter.

Europe's biggest bank said Monday that it lost $1.3 billion in the final three months of 2015, compared with a $511 million profit in the same period the year before.

Chairman Douglas Flint said the results were "broadly satisfactory." He said in a statement that last year was marked by "seismic shifts in global economic conditions," notably sharp falls in prices for oil and other commodities, partly stemming from slowing growth in China.

The bank has been steadily trimming back its global operations as part of a sweeping reorganization in order to focus on Asia, where it expects the region's growing numbers of wealthy to drive profits.